The Coast Starlight Train - We Begin in Sacramento.

I started my vacation by flying to Sacramento with my daughter-in-law, where we met my train pal that went with me last summer.  We stayed at the Vagabond Inn Downtown which turned out to be perfect for us.  It was only a hop, skip, and a another hop through the under pass to Sacramento Old Town!  Which was a lot of fun!  And only another hop, skip over to the old Union Station where we would board our train.  Knowing that we would want to spend some time exploring Old Town Sacramento we gave ourselves a full day to do that.  The Vagabond Inn's location is so convenient if you are taking the train, it is an older style motel, but it's clean, the price is right, and the free breakfast was varied and certainly filled us up.  The Daughter-in-Law and Train Pal used their hot tub at the pool that evening but since it was in the low 60's I thought it was a tad cool for that!  But they enjoyed it.

 

You felt like you just stepped back into time except for the cars.  One could get a good feel for the way Sacramento must have been during the Gold Rush days.  It was similar to being a Hobbit coming out of his hole because after we walked through the pedestrian pass-way under the interstate you were IN old Town.  Magical!

 

This building on the right contained the Wells Fargo Museum and the Welcome Center to Old Town.  Both worthy of a stop!

 

Most of the buildings had quaint shops on the ground floor and boardwalk sidewalks.  I don't know what the upper floors were on most.  We ate supper at a Mexican restaurant on Saturday evening that was on the 2nd floor of one of the building.  Another interesting thing we learned was that when it was first founded, Sacramento would flood very badly every year.  Not to be deterred, the city founders simply raised all the buildings, including the capitol building, 15 feet and put fill in under them! Quite the engineering feat today but this was well over 100 years ago and done with real horse power.  Amazing!  A few of the buildings (probably some of the last ones raised) had left their ground levels the same with a lower 'courtyard' effect and then built on more stories.  At first that puzzled us until we found out the whole story.

 

Sunday morning we went to the California Train Museum located in one corner on the Sacramento River in Old Town.  They say it is one of the premier train museums in the United States and after spending all morning here, I do believe it!  Don't miss it if you are in Sacramento.  And don't miss Old Town either!

 

There were wonderful displays of all sorts of early locomotives, including some Diesels.

 

A Victorian Passenger Coach.  Isn't it beautiful!

 

They had an old sleeper couch from the 1940's with the old style pull down upper berths, and it moved and clacked as you walked through it.  Very Realistic.  This kitchen was in another coach, the dining coach and the man is a really a mannequin.  They had a the different tables in the dining area set with a variety of samples of the different china they used to use on the various lines.

 

Did you know that trains carried our mail right up to the 1970's?  They sorted the mail in the couches and this was a docent who was explaining how they did this to my Train Pal.  I do remember when they elminated the "Air Mail" Class of postage.  Apparently that was when they quit using the rails to move the mail.  From thence on, it was ALL Airmail.

 

A display of several rail cars.  One Mr and Mrs. Ronald Reagan had dined in when he was President.  It was then the private home on the rails for a couple of wealthy people for a number of years.  Very Rich paneling and amenities.  They had tried to furbish it like the old President of the South Pacific had furbished his private rail car.  I believe maybe that was Stanford?

CARRYING ON TO THE FINISH!!! of the Casserole Carrier of Course.

The binding from the top after it's stitched in the ditch.

The binding from the bottom after stitching in the ditch.

Remember that long skinny strip we had left after cutting out the casserole carrier? It's going to become our straps, so trim it down to around 3" - 3 1/2"wide.  Then join the ends and sew a 1/4" seam (careful you don't get a Loopy twist in it)

Press under a 1/4 inch on both sides and then carefully press together, wrong sides together.  I then use 2 decorative stitches on both sides just off the edges to seam it up.  The stitching also adds strength to the strap.

Finished Strap ready to be attached.

Mark the centers of your straps with a pin and then pin those centers to the middle of the bottom of the carrier, placing them so they will run over the open flaps.

Stitch the straps to the 'bag'.  DO NOT stitch them up the sides or it will 'pull' the carrier open when you carry it. You can go a little ways up the sides but don't go all the way.

I like to make a box with the seaming where I ended the stitching to the bag on all four corners for reinforcement.

Place velcro vertically on the flaps (then you can 'adjust' closing it).  On the underside of the top flap and the top of the bottom flap.

stitching on the velcro

Velcro placement with my oversized pan in the carrier.

For the Coup de Grace' I like to place to small strips of elastic for a spoon holder.

The completed Carrier-ready to be sent off to it's new owner, Nancy.

Nancy really earned this casserole carrier.  On her blog HERE at Wyoming Breezes I won THESE.  I was Thrilled beyond words and I have worn my pair almost every night after I take off my sandals.  Ironically, I found Nancy's blog looking for information on knitting--especially socks!  I swear I will simply have to learn to knit socks myself.  What a special treat a pair of hand-knitted socks are.  I seem to have problem though, called co-ordination and Thumbs...but I know practice will make perfect.  Just need more practice, right?

 

Sewing tip - see the bag duct-taped to my sewing table? It's an old heavy plastic produce bag and it's now resides as my 'scrap n' thread tags' bag.   It's so much easier to dump them in there rather than throwing them over my shoulder like Eleanor does :)  I suspect she doesn't clean up after herself.

DONE - I almost feel like I have finished a major UFO here it's taken so long.   There are 3 installments to making this carrier for anyone new.  Next posts will be about my trip on the Coast Starlight! It was a Grand Memorable Trip and I hope you will enjoy my blogging about it.

Binding the Casserole Carrier

We will FINALLY Proceed with finishing our casserole carrier.  If you are like me, your 'sandwich' is not too precise so you will need to trim it so it's nice and neat.

 Trimming Away the Excess

Results After Trimming - Nice & Neat!

Next you will either need WIDE bias tape or if you are like me, I like to make my own.  There are numerous tutorials on the web on how to make your own bias tape.  I usually cut mine a bit wider than they say; at least 2 1/2 inches wide as it gives me more 'room' to fold it over.  First Sew the bias tape to both ends of the short sides of the casserole carrier.

 Sewn to both short sides

 Now we are going to fold it over and press it down and pin.  I don't like to hand sew particularly so on projects I am not fussy about, I carefully pin it 'the ditch' so I can then flip it and sew in the ditch and catch it on the opposite side.  This photo shows the pinning on the underside.

Stitching in the Ditch from the Top

Sometimes I don't get it quite right as here if you can see I missed catching it on the underside (by the 9 line).  I just go back and catch it.

Next we create our box corners, flip up the short, just bound flap till you have a nice square corner and sew with about a 1/2 inch seam.  Note your seam is on the OUTSIDE of the box--not inside.

The sewn corners create the 'box'.

Now we are going to place our bias tape along the just sewn 'box' seam and along the flap that will cover the top of the 'box' mitering our corners.  Again if this is new, there are numerous tutorials on the web on how to miter your corner with bias tape.  At the beginning and ending -- both will be at the start of the 'box' seam, turn under 1/4 inch of the tape and let it slightly overlap so you don't have a raw edge showing.

One side done - one to go

Next time - finishing the casserole carrier and then after that one, we will go on to my trip via the Coast Starlight. 

If you find any of my instructions confusing, please let me know and I will try to clarify them for you.  Plus I have a surprise ending to this casserole carrier.

I have SO much to blog about after being 'internetless' for almost 3 weeks.  My hi-speed router died and I swear I almost went with it!! I never realized how much I depended on it until it was gone.

Missing From Blogdom!

It's been over a MONTH since I've been able to post.  First my internet router DIED.  Zip! Pfsttt! and it took my provider and I weeks to be able to connect up and get a new wireless one put in.

And I went to Santa Barbara via the Coast Starlight train from Sacramento.  It was awesome!
We went to Denver to my husband's forty year class reunion.  It was a blast.

I finished the casserole carrier so will post on how to finish it first, probably tomorrow.

As they say, She's Baaaack!  And I have tons to post!
Merideth

Spring is Close - and we start Our Casserole Carrier

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter.  It was Finally Semi-Warm (60) at North of Nowhere but we have more cold and rain/snow (snain) predicted in the next week.  Ah yes, spring in Wyoming.   You wear your snow boots, mittens and a Coat.  And Think about Summer.

Our Easter was low-key as Hubby had to work. I had a ham, baked sweet potatoes, asparagus, and a Lemon Merigue pie ready for supper when he got home.  No Easter Bunny appearance for us old fogies. We did have a new calf though and Momma and baby are doing just fine.  Hubby thinks it may be the last calf as he doesn't think the other two cows left will calve at all.  They are both getting up there in years.  It's Good to be Livestock 60 miles North of Nowhere.  You don't go to the Canner when you get old -- you get to RETIRE!  Gadzook, I hope I have it that good.

CASSEROLE PAN CARRIER PROJECT

This casserole carrier came about as a project for a wedding gift.  I could not  find a pattern I liked -neither commercial nor a freebie on the web.  So I made my own.  This will easily fit a 9 x 14 pan, and maybe a little larger one.  And We're Off....

SUPPLIES NEEDED
Freezer paper for your pattern or some other big sheet of paper, or scotch tape some together.
1 1/3 yards of 45" wide material  - (need a length 48" x 45")
insulating material like quilt batting (I like Thermolam because it insulates better)
pencil, ruler, scissors
fat quarter of contrasting fabric to make binding or a package of binding.
thread, sewing machine, pins

MAKING YOUR PATTERN.

We are going to make a pattern in a FAT L shape.  Fold it width wise so it's at least 18" tall and 13" wide.
The fold is on the LEFT side -- opposite the scissors, not the scissors side.

The L is 17 inches tall, 8 inches wide at the top, and 12 inches wide at the bottom.  The bottom of the L is 6" tall.

17 inches tall -  the left edge of the paper is folded.

Dimensions again: 8" at the top, 12" at the bottom, the bottom L part is 6" tall.

CUTTING THE FABRICS:

Now you have your pattern and we are ready to cut our fabric.

Unfold your pattern so it looks like the above and place the bottom of the L on the fold of the fabric.

Cut out - repeat.

Your cut-out fabric will look like this:

The long top strip will become our handles and the two rectangles could become matching pot-holders if you like.  ZERO waste!!! Am I good or what! :)

Our Handle Strip

Now cut one out of your insulation material - again on a folded edge. If you really want to re-purpose,

you could use an old blanket or towels as the insulation layer.

Now make a sandwich - fabric, insulation, fabric.  At this point I will pin so I can quilt them together.  Raw edges remain all the way around if you are not a quilter.  Just so you know.

I pin through all 3 layers with regular old safety pins.  And I close them.  Some people like the curved quilting pins and leave them open.  I use 3" regular safety pins and find them easier to use.

Okay -- all for today.  We'll continue in a few days with the quilting together (and you could probably skip this step) and then sewing and binding the project.

Oh and why the red bandanna material you ask?  Because I have 15 YARDS of the stuff.  Have to use it for something!!  How did I come to have 15 yards.  Don't ask - had something to do with ebay.........

Its a Conspiracy or the Unraveling of America!

I think it is a plan, an evil devious plan.  It's being pushed on the American Consumer by the Asian Fashion Manufacturers.   Have you every noticed, you need to sew back on every button before you can wear your new shirt?  Or sew this or sew that?

The other day, I was getting dressed at my gym and I stuck my foot into my office dress pants.  It felt weird, just a little too much resistance so I tugged a little more.....AND UNZIPPED THE ENTIRE SIDE SEAM of my pants!!!!!! I had snagged a thread from the continuous style sewing on the seam and pulled the threading completely out of the leg of the pants!  Sheesh.......fortunately, there was still an inner seam holding it together on the very edges of the material, the overlap seaming.  Otherwise, my reappearance in public would have had to have been in sweatpants!  I think it's a conspiracy by foreign powers to make sure Americans wind up buck-naked in the cold! Somewhere in the Indo-China Map Area, a little wizened citizen sits at his home sweat shop sewing continuous seams on women's pants bound for America laughing manically at the thought of us running around with flapping open pant legs.  It's his only amusement in a bleak world, but it does amuse him greatly. Consider this fair warning.

But really!!!!!!  Is this a good plan to sew a seam on a pair of pants like this??? I say NO!  But I can sew them back up.

Wyoming spring has hit the past week, green is slowly peaking up through the winter browns, rearing it's head inspite of cold, windy, rainy days....and it feels good.  Mud feels GOOD.  The snow stick is buried in the mud now. We have several calves on the ground.  No foals this year though and I haven't replaced my chickens after the raccoon killed them all. So no baby chicks either.

I did start the casserole carrier so will post how to make one in the next few blogs.

Till then I hope to see a LOT more clouds that look like these!

Springing into Wyoming

I think this guy was Under Our Bed

(You can find this here at toonpool.com)

Been busy 'spring' cleaning and had every intention to walk on my treadmill over the weekends but after I'm done moving furniture so I can clean under it, I'm too pooped!  Well maybe when I am done cleaning.....

Spring has almost sprung - snow in the am today but that will help the green stuff just barely peeking out of the ground.

These have returned to raise their young down at the ponds: the Canadian Geese.  All of our dogs have learned that Mr. and Mrs. Goose are not to be trifled with and have short fuse with those of the canine persuasion.  Each new dog had to have the lesson impressed upon them, which Mr. Goose has quickly supplied.  We have about two nesting pairs that return each year.  Did you know geese mate for life?

Yesterday, Hubby spied a Sandhill Crane in the pond.  They pass through twice a year on their migrations north and south.  Another sure sign of spring.  And he saw an otter that day also, but they are year around residents of our pond.  Sandhill Cranes are very common along the North Platte River which runs 60 miles south of us into Nebraska.  The Oregon Trail followed the North Platte through Nebraska into Wyoming until just west of Casper, Wyoming where they left it near Independence Rock.

One of the perks living north of nowhere is definitely seeing the wildlife.  These guys are so used to seeing me open our gate in and out to the house, they will stand within 30 feet and not move - just watch me to make sure I'm not going to do anything else.

This large bunch of pronghorn antelope are a 'winter' bunch.  They group together in the fall to form large herds, but then scatter in the spring to have their fawns and you see them in groups of three or even less through the summer.  This is the hill they watch me from near our gate.

I have promised myself TODAY I will start sewing my casserole carriers...I'll try to remember to take pictures and post in a blogpost so you can make one too!  I find them fun to make.